National and state unemployment insurance data show initial claims return to pre-COVID-19 levels

By
May 13, 2021
In Commentary, COVID-19

The release of national weekly unemployment insurance claims data shows that initial claims for unemployment insurance (UI) are 92 percent lower than this time last year in North Carolina.

The continued decline week-over-week similarly points to the continued improvements in the labor market and the important role UI plays in ensuring jobless workers stay engaged in the labor market and looking for work.

“North Carolina’s unemployment system is the first line of defense against people leaving the labor force out of frustration that too few jobs are available,” said Alexandra Sirota, Director of the Budget& Tax Center, a project of the NC Justice Center. “For more than 467,000 North Carolinians our state system fell short, failing to sustain them until their job searches resulted in employment.”

New research from the Economic Policy Institute points to the critical role that federal extensions of UI eligibility and the number of weeks have had in North Carolina, as well as the heavy reliance in our state on those programs to stabilize the economy. Federal UI provided more than 80 percent of the unemployment benefits in North Carolina, which went a long way to stabilizing household budgets, local commerce, and state revenue.

In North Carolina, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which reaches those who would otherwise not be eligible for state UI, such as the self-employed or those on contracts, provided wage replacement during the week ending April 24th to more than 83,000 North Carolinians.

UI must be the foundation of the state’s work to ensure people get back to good, family-sustaining jobs. Right now, national data show that despite improvements in the number of job openings economy-wide there are still 12 workers officially counted as unemployed for just 10 job openings. Moreover, well-documented barriers—including here in North Carolina—point to the real barrier of childcare faced by a significant share of the labor force, which makes it difficult for every worker to return to their jobs.

“Unemployment Insurance is one of the most effective tools we have to support the economy to recovery,” said Bill Rowe, Deputy Director of Advocacy at the NC Justice Center. “The key is to provide adequate wage replacement for those who have lost employment until the labor market has the quantity and quality of jobs that ensure workers can go back to work.”

Julia Hawes is the Director of Communications for the N.C. Justice Center.

High unemployment and loss of federal assistance continue to plague NC workers

By
September 24, 2020
In Commentary, News

This morning the U.S. Department of Labor released the latest weekly data on Unemployment Insurance claims, showing that jobless workers continued to make initial claims for UI in North Carolina at elevated levels. More than 13,000 initial claims were filed the week of September 12th, compared to 3,000 initial claims in the same week last year.

“Joblessness is widespread across North Carolina, and the loss of federal boosts to Unemployment Insurance is worsening the economic harm to people and communities,” said Bill Rowe, Deputy Director of Advocacy at the North Carolina Justice Center. “It is clear North Carolina is far from returning to prior employment levels and that UI must continue to be a federal and state priority in policymakers’ response to this economic downturn.”

The trends in UI in combination with recent labor market data released for North Carolina, as well as Household Pulse Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau for the week of September 14th, show there are widespread job losses and hardship.

More than 1.2 million North Carolinians have filed UI claims since the start of the pandemic. Daily new claims tracked by the Division of Employment Security show there have been more than 6,000 claims received.

North Carolina’s number of renter households behind on rent increased by nearly 30,000 week over week, suggesting the loss of UI could continue to ripple throughout the state and put pressure on communities.

The number of adults reporting being unable to put food on the table in their households totaled more than 780,000.

National figures not only show the persistent joblessness that is plaguing communities across the U.S. but also that the country needs sustained federal action on UI until the recovery is underway.

The latest available data find that North Carolina is losing at least $356 million each week in household income, impacting spending and the broader local economy. Across the country, researchers point to problems with the Lost Wages Assistance program not meeting the need and running out of core funding too soon to sustain workers through the crisis.

“Federal action on Unemployment Insurance is critical to keeping jobless workers connected to the labor market and ensuring that families aren’t pushed deeper into poverty as a result of job losses from the pandemic,” said Alexandra Sirota, Director of Budget & Tax Center, a project of the NC Justice Center. “Taking action on unemployment now can make sure that people can pay rent and put food on the table, and will provide the foundation our economy needs to begin to recover. Absent this action, hardship will continue to ripple through communities.”

Julia Hawes is the Director of Communications for the NC Justice Center.

Lawmakers, workers, advocates call for NC to rebuild its unemployment system

By
June 30, 2020
In Commentary, COVID-19, News

Rep. Vernetta Alston

Sen. Wiley Nickel

Rep. Yvonne Holley

North Carolina lawmakers, workers, and advocates gathered for a virtual press conference yesterday to call for the General Assembly to move forward with changes to North Carolina’s unemployment insurance (UI) system. Even before the COVID-19 public health and economic crisis, North Carolina long provided the worst UI in the nation, offering too little in benefits for too short a duration to too few people who needed it.

“More than 1 million North Carolinians, including many of our friends and neighbors, have joined the ranks of the unemployed,” said Representative Vernetta Alston, one of the primary sponsors for House Bill 1075, which aims to modify the state UI system. “Despite that, we have done very little in the NC General Assembly to do more for them and to do more for all our workers.”

Changes made in 2013 broke North Carolina’s UI system, which helps people stay connected to the labor market and provides workers a portion of the lost wages from the unprecedented job loss due to COVID-19.

“North Carolina lawmakers waged a war on the ability of working families to survive any kind of crisis, let alone a global crisis,” Rep. Alston said. “Workers are suffering, the unemployed are suffering, and bad policy led us here… I believe together we can salvage our economy and support our workers at the same time but we have to act quickly.”

UI can strengthen and sustain the state’s recovery from this downturn but only if lawmakers reverse the 2013 changes, ensuring workers can access the system and have adequate wage replacement while the economy recovers. Rep. Alston said HB1075/SB792 is a step in the right direction.

Corey Hill, President of UAW Local 3520, represents workers at the Freightliner truck manufacturing plant in Cleveland, North Carolina. He has been speaking out on unemployment insurance since lawmakers made changes to the system in 2013.

“It took a pandemic to get us here today to get in front of people and talk about this,” Hill said. I’ve been talking about this since 2013 because of the effect it had on my community.”

Lawmakers need to act today, Hill said, not just for those who need benefits and their families but their communities as well.

“It’s never too late to do what’s right for the working class people in North Carolina,” Hill said. “We’re better than this. We need to take care of the people who put in labor every day… people who make this economy run. They’re the ones we’re neglecting for not acting on this bill.”

Senator Wiley Nickel, a primary sponsor on SB792, said North Carolina started the year with the worst system in the country in terms of maximum weekly benefits, duration of benefits, and a program that is intentionally hard to access. Nickel worked with members of the NC Senate to raise the weekly maximum benefit but the provision was blocked in the NC House. Read more

STATEMENT FROM THE NC JUSTICE CENTER: It is immoral, irrational, and unacceptable to hold our nation hostage over building a border wall

By
January 9, 2019
In News
RALEIGH (January 8, 2019) – President Trump’s speech tonight sought to further hold our nation hostage over the building of a useless, massively expensive, and politically fabricated border wall – one that few want, security experts agree wastes our time and resources, and further divides our country before construction even begins. The government shutdown over this immoral and irrational political stunt has now led to hundreds of thousands of federal employees missing paychecks and halted vital services, affecting families and children across the United States.

The only crisis at the border is the one that was caused by the Trump administration’s cruel policies towards children and families—policies that actually jeopardize, rather than enhance, our security. Any crisis here was politically manufactured by the President.

It is further unacceptable to negotiate new immigration policies while the government is shut down. Calling for “compromise” creates a false equivalency between thoughtful discourse over reasonable, pragmatic policy options and the demands of a chaotic White House administration using a ransom note to dictate the way forward.

There is no ransom here to be paid; no bargaining to be done. Holding the nation, innocent federal employees, and lawmakers hostage in the name of a divisive, archaic border wall is harmful not only to our democracy, but in concrete ways, to millions of families and local economies across the nation. We are better than that as a people.

The vast majority of Americans oppose the wall and want the government reopened immediately. The Justice Center urges our North Carolina lawmakers to support bipartisan government funding bills that will end this reckless shutdown.

President Trump’s proposal to “improve” border security and enforcement attacks the immigrant community

By
January 26, 2017
In Commentary, Trump Administration

President Donald Trump took immediate and counterproductive steps on Day 6 of his administration to appease the hateful, anti-immigrant faction among his supporters by announcing immediate and rapid changes to U.S. border security and immigration enforcement.

Expanding the use of local law enforcement as a tool for mass deportations of immigrants runs counter to our nation’s highest ideals and eviscerates the trust local law enforcement has cultivated and needs to keep our communities safe. North Carolina has seen this picture before, and it ends in racial profiling and violation of civil rights.

The President’s announcement of the immediate construction of a costly, ineffective, and unnecessary wall for our southern border is a sledgehammer to the Statue of Liberty and an affront to our core principles of protecting those who are fleeing unspeakable violence and persecution. This wall invites ridicule from the rest of the world as well as long-lasting animosity from our allies.

Read more

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